Alexandra Gillespie

Alexandra Gillespie is a Professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), where she also serves as Vice-President and Principal. She is a leading scholar in book history and medieval literature, with a focus on the interplay between text technologies, literary theory, and cultural heritage. Her work bridges disciplines, connecting historical and global perspectives through collaborative research.

• Hons. BA, Victoria University of Wellington
• MSt and DPhil in English, University of Oxford

Her research spans medieval and early modern literary studies, book history, and digital humanities. She has co-edited major publications on premodern text production and authored the seminal monograph Print Culture and the Medieval Author, which remains highly cited in the field. Gillespie co-founded the Old Books New Science Lab (OBNS) at UTM and St George campuses, fostering interdisciplinary research in medieval bookbinding, computational humanities, and manuscript studies.

Her recent scholarship focuses on the global history of the book, including the Mellon-funded Hidden Stories project, which involves over 130 collaborators from 60 institutions. Key themes in her publications include manuscript-aesthetic form, print invention, and philological approaches to medieval texts. She has contributed to foundational handbooks in Chaucer and novel studies.

At UTM, Gillespie mentors undergraduate research assistants, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows, integrating pedagogy with her research on textual materiality. She actively collaborates with international networks and institutions, such as the Aga Khan Museum, where her work on The Book and the Silk Roads was exhibited.